TRL is wide open in girls soccer

With revenge on their minds, the Oregon City Pioneers left it all on the field last Thursday against Three Rivers leader Lake Oswego, and the result was a 4-1 Pioneer victory.

It was the first loss of the season for the Lakers who defeated Oregon City 1-0 in the first round of league play.

The Pioneers were all business. Emily Dent scored during a scramble in front of the Laker goal barely five minutes into the contest.

Megan Martin upped the gap to 2-0 when she slipped the ball past Lake Oswego senior keeper Kat Colson with 13 minutes left in the half.

Lake Oswego all-league forward Mady Johnson answered four minutes later to trim the gap to 2-1.

But that's as close as Lake Oswego got, as Oregon City first-year goalkeeper Taylor Belmont made several spectacular saves to hold the Lakers at bay.

Oregon City's Sarah Thompson gained the Pioneers a little breathing room when she scored with 17 minutes to play.

And Dent found the net a second time off a cross from Martin with three minutes left to seal the victory.

The Lakers had a 9-8 edge in shots on-goal and a 4-1 advantage in corner kicks.

The Lakers had outscored eight opponents 17-2 entering the contest. Their only other blemish in an otherwise perfect record was a 1-1 tie with West Linn.

Lake Oswego then lost to Clackamas 3-1 on Monday, muddying up the waters in the Three Rivers League.

Oregon City is now alone in first place with four teams in hot pursuit.

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Meanwhile, the Lakeridge girls might be the hottest team in the league after knocking off West Linn 2-1 on Monday.

The Lions dominated the game when the two teams met previously. And it looked like they might do the same thing this time around in the early going.

West Linn had the better of the play in the first half and got an early goal on a cross from Taylor Brooke to India Hubbard.

West Linn led 1-0 at the half but Lakeridge was persistent. Midway through the second half Alex Elliott found Jenna Horton to tie the game.

The goal seemed to spark the Pacers and they quickly started to play some of their best soccer of the night.

'I think our young players are starting to gain some confidence and getting comfortable with their abilities,' coach Ryann Furrer said.

Not long after scoring its first goal, Lakeridge earned another scoring opportunity. Kathryn Little made a nice throw-in to Horton who hit a perfectly placed shot into the net, giving her team a 2-1 lead.

Meanwhile, the Pacers' defense, led by Abby Cramer, Sam Schulte and Caitlin Knecht did a terrific job limiting West Linn's scoring opportunities as Lakeridge held on for its biggest win of the year to date.

'We defended very well. The girls were very organized,' Furrer said.

The victory put the Pacers into a tie with West Linn for fourth place and dramatically improved their playoff hopes.